The Client

Our client is a leading retailer of automotive products and services with over 1,500 locations globally.

The Situation

Faced with an underperforming RPO supplier in challenging retail markets, the client looked to transition away from its existing RPO provider to a high-touch, high-volume replacement. As Acara was engaged with existing corporate assignments for the client concurrent with its search for a new RPO supplier, its company executives were interested in exploring our flexible RPO solution. We began a six-month pilot RPO program to augment the client’s bench of talent, one that would steadily expand in both size and scope as time progressed. Pleased with our results at the end of the pilot, the client was eager to expand its agreement with Acara to continue to reap the benefits of our RPO program. This has since grown into a four-year, ongoing partnership with Acara now responsible for nearly half of the client’s nationwide locations.

The Challenge

Upon taking over from the incumbent RPO provider in 2018, Acara immediately dove right into the client’s high-volume hiring initiative. Initial project difficulties arose upon assisting the client with its staffing needs for hundreds of hourly openings at once. To keep pace with the vast number of openings that needed to be filled, the client asked our team to dedicate in-market recruiters to the program. These resources developed a deep understanding of the nuances that accompanied unique labor markets.

The Solution

Prior to RPO implementation, Acara assigned a dedicated program team to handle the client’s recruiting needs. Actively involved in the account’s day-to-day operations was a director of client delivery, project manager, team of market recruiters, and centralized team of sourcers. Our agile RPO team provided end-to-end hiring support for 400+ retail locations across twenty states along with supplemental sourcing support for corporate and distribution center roles. Our recruitment solution was designed and built to scale up and down to support each local market. This presented the client with unparalleled flexibility and a unique ability to quickly mobilize the team to meet local market workforce demands.

The Conclusion

Acara’s value-driven RPO program has driven exceptional performance improvements and cost savings to the client. Our team has seamlessly managed the client’s full-scale recruiting process while implementing innovative reporting metrics that improved operational efficiencies. Annually, we manage over 42,500 applicants and conduct more than 8,500 phone and video screens, resulting in the hiring of 2,500+ hourly associates. Moreover, our efforts reduced the time-to-fill to under 10 days.

To summarize, since 2018, our flexible RPO solutions achieved the following results:

• 170,000+ applicants handled
• 15,000+ phone screens conducted
• 19,000+ video interviews conducted
• 10,000 hourly employees hired
• 10 days average time-to-fill
• 210 hires per month average, with the highest month being 335

The Acara team demonstrated the value of our flexible, scalable solution during the pandemic. When our client’s demands began to escalate, we were able to appropriately scale our hiring team to address their growing needs. We successfully closed out 2021 with close to 3,500 hires across 400+ nationwide locations.